...then you're meeting up for 'practical' reasons...
"'Ello, pardner. What's goin' on in dis here liberairy?"
Sunny Flare rolled her eyes. "I'm pretty sure that your godhorse's farmer friend would find that majorly offensive, Lemon."
"I'll ask her the next time I meet her. Seriously though." Lemon plonked herself next to the other girl. "Watcha doooooin'?"
"I'm trying to figure out what our project should be about." She turned a page in the encyclopedia. "After all, you're probably going to procrastinate every step of the way."
"Whoa, hold on, that's harsh! I don't procrastinate!"
"You do homework on the bus every day."
"Psssh, that's just calculus and computation. It's a nice early morning warm-up."
"Oh really? And what about that time you turned in your literature assignment late?
"Yeah, I got carried away in the analysis of Darcy's character as it relates to modern masculinity... The teacher did say I was thourough, though, that's a plus."
"And let's not forget the time you, oh I don't know, MELTED THE SCIENCE WING OF THE SCHOOL!"
Lemon cackled. "Hoo hoo, yeah! I went way too far on that one. Aunt Abby was riding my ass for that right up till spring break!"
Sunny Flare shut her encyclopedia. "Simply put, I don't trust you to be anything resembling reasonable when it comes to our psychology project. You'd probably going to spend the whole time throwing lemons at people and recording their reactions for some nonsensical final interpretation of their belief on Sunset Shimmer!"
"Oranges."
"What?"
"We throw oranges," Lemon Zest explained, her face serious. "Fresh ones."
Sunny Flare stared at her, mouth agape, before managing to shake herself. "See, it's things like that which make me incredibly sure you need some sort of supervision. But in order to supervise, I need to know what we're going to be working on." She turned another page. "And so, here I am, going through a list of topics and trying to think of one you couldn't possibly screw up."
"Okay, Flare Bear, three problems with your approach." Lemon reached out and shut the encyclopedia. "Unum: I can screw up anything."
Sunny Flare gave her a glare, opening the book again. "Then I'll just have to find the subject you're least likely to destroy."
"Duo, you're using a general encyclopedia instead of one that specifically covers psychology concepts." Lemon shut the book again. "I'm all for interdisciplinary, don't get me wrong, but miss Laurel probably wants something demonstrably mental."
"You underestimate how quickly I can read." Sunny Flare pointedly slammed the book open.
"Tres." Lemon shut the book gently, leaning over. "You could just ask me not to screw this up."
Sunny inhaled, intent on countering that, but the look on the pink girl's face--the intense seriousness, the worry in her eyes--brought her to pause for a moment.
"...Would you really? If I asked you not to mess this up for me--"
"You know why peeps like me don't like school? It's 'cause the whole system is a set of demands that stress you out. GPA, social networks, tests once a month, all for what?"
"Education is important."
"Not going to deny that. And with a good teacher, anyone can learn. Of course, people make the mistake of thinking that knowing about a thing qualifies them to teach about a thing... my point is, Crystal Prep is enough of a headache that anything I can do to make it less, I'll do it. That could mean causing crazy nonsense, so people have something to gossip about." She took a breath. "Or, it could mean focusing on the project my partner wants to do, so her perfectionist tendencies don't drive her up the wall."
Sunny Flare rubbed the gem in her forehead. "So if I weren't so concerned about my grades, you'd screw it up."
"We~ll, only if it made you lighten up." Lemon shrugged. "Bit o' a hit-or-miss there. But if you ask me to behave for this, I'll do it."
"Fine." The blue girl gave her a look. "Lemon Zest, do you solemnly swear to take our assignment seriously and attempt no action which could subvert it, so long as we both are assigned?"
"I do. Sunny Flare, do you solemnly swear to allow yourself to relax while working on this assignment, and ensure your own need for perfection does not drive you crazy, so long as we both are assigned?"
"I do."
"By the power invested in me as number one GPA student at Crystal Prep," Moondancer intoned, "I pronounce you research partners."
"You may now co-sign the thesis document," Sugarcoat added in deadpan.
Lemon Zest blinked, reviewing the last few minutes, and began to crack up. "Ha--okay, yeah, we deserved that! Heh, good one."
Sunny blinked. "When--when did you two get here?"
"About right after Lemon did," Sugarcoat admitted. "We were trying to ignore your flirting, but then you slammed your encyclopedia--"
"Flirt--we weren't flirting! We aren't even dating!" Sunny gestured at the still giggling Lemon. "Why in the name of chaos would I even want to court this gowpenful-o'-anything?!"
"Because I'm the only one that can deal with a zoilest like you?" Lemon suggested brightly.
Sunny Flare glowered at her. "I've got dozens of more appeasing suitors. I choose not to select from them because they would be unable to follow through on my needs."
"Sure, sure. Anyway, yeah." Lemon turned to the other two. "We're not dating."
Sugarcoat's right eyebrow quirked. "Yet."
"Oh, great, you're shipping us." The pink girl rolled her eyes. "Don't you have somewhere else to be?"
"It is a public library," Moondancer pointed out. "I'm pretty sure there's no explicit rule against watching performance art."
Sunny Flare rolled her eyes. "And what about you two? Are you looking for some private book-nook to snog in?"
"Ours is not a passionate romance, but deep and multifaceted, a starscape on a clear night with a thousand thousand glitt'ring wonders to guide us as we stumble onward upon our path and a great silver orb guarding our most secret of hearts."
Three sets of eyes stared at Sugarcoat in astonishement.
She shrugged. "It seemed appropriate."
Moondancer blushed. "Well. Um. Yes. It was. And I am... going to be spending a few days trying to come up with a way to say how much I'm moved by that."
"You could just say you love me."
"I love you."
"And I love you." Sugarcoat gave Lemon and Sunny a sly smirk. "Not so hard, is it?"
Lemon Zest snorted. "Even if we do have romantic feelings toward each other, we're both so clearly in denial about it that pushing us at this early stage will only sabotage our relationship." She narrowed her eyes. "And if I recall, you really had a hard time confessing to Twilight!"
Sugarcoat winced. "That... was different. I was part of the reason Twilight left... felt comfortable with leaving. And I knew she didn't return my affections. Moondancer and I are more open with each other."
Moondancer nodded. "Even if it does consist of a lot of snark."
Sunny groaned, putting her head in her hands. "Did you come here explicitly to lecture us on our nonexistent love life?"
"Actually, we had intended to find resources for professor Laurel's psychology assignment." Sugarcoat took a seat across from them, giving Moondancer a brief glance.
With only a brief hesitation, her girlfriend sat down across from her. "We... decided to focus on how the mental adaptation of a new societal schema would affect the individual."
"Different reactions to magic, huh? Interesting..." Lemon Zest snapped her fingers. "Hey, Sunny, we could do something like that!"
"What, plagiarize the top two students' work?"
"No no no. They're talking about the societal stuff, we could get more personal."
Sunny Flare blinked. "Define personal."
Lemon clicked her fingers together. "These babies ain't the only thing I've got going for me. I've got a link with technogizmos, and Sugar there does too. Plus, and I'm pretty sure this is just me, I get... vibes."
"Vibes."
"I know it sounds hokey, but when I enter a crowd I can just... know if it's going to be a party or a tense standoff. I kinda think Dean Cadence does too. And come on." She tapped Sunny's gem teasingly, causing the blue girl to lean back. "Holding things with magic has to feel a little different than holding them with hands."
"I have noticed that," Moondancer mused. "It's like... wearing a glove made of water. Except you're not wearing it, it's part of you. I'm not describing this well."
"And that's why we need to do this," Lemon finished. "Terminology for the mental interactions that are caused when one uses magic. A way to describe the abstract! What do you say, Flare Bear, want to run some tests on magic and the mind?"
Sunny Flare sighed, standing up. "Honestly, since it's the big thing these days, it would probably be best if we did it instead of letting clickbait spread. Alright, let's start with some material on synesthesia..."
Moondancer and Sugarcoat watched them walk off into the shelves.
"...I'm not seeing it," the paler girl eventually admitted. "Friends, yes. Lovers...? Not so much."
"Being fair, I don't think it'll happen. Just that it could." Sugarcoat took a breath. "Where do you think we'd find research on the effects of societal upheaval on personal psychology?"
"I think it'd be in the same area they're in."
"Makes sense. Shall we on?"
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Well, I just learned two new words.
In any case, this promises to be surprisingly cute. Indeed, this chapter has already fulfilled some of that promise.
How did i MISS this wonderful story!
Um... The subject of the study is not supose to know that it is being studed.
I expected beter from you Moondacer.
It amuses me how you have Lemon Zest being Cinch's niece.
In my headcanon, Cinch is Sunny's aunt. Anyways, glad to find a story about my favorite underrated shipping! 
There it is again. Is there a reason for it, or are you just having trouble keeping track of the girl's name?
Okay, the only reason I'm even pointing out this one is because I had to look it up, but apparently it's "zoilist".
Also, I'm drunk, probably.
Whoa, was Sugardancer established earlier in the 'verse, or is this a new creation from you? :O Because I highly approve!
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I just figured it meant she was more zoily than anyone else. :V
Really? That’s too bad, I thought it was a fair representation of an over-emphasized Western accent. Which really makes me wonder about AJ getting upset, since she's got more of an emphasis on Southern, which, despite some overlap, is not the accent Lemon was using.
Or was Sunny underestimatin' CHS friendliness?
P.S. Western = cowboy, Southern = farmer. Yes it's more complicated, but that's a fair startin' place. Also, I only type in a Southern accent when I'm makin' a point.
Now now, that's not procrastination, that's... obsession? Convection? Liquidation? Something.
I'm pretty sure duo is pair, and never means 2, but I also think that the mistake was on purpose.
Those aren't really a linear progression, you can start with either. Still, I have to agree with Lemon: 'Even if we do have romantic feelings toward each other, we're both so clearly in denial about it that pushing us at this early stage will only sabotage our relationship' and Moondancer: '"...I'm not seeing it," the paler girl eventually admitted. "Friends, yes. Lovers...? Not so much."'
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Wait, those are real words? I assumed they were made up.
Both fitting, and bonus points for the obscurity, these are the sort of person to know such words.